NY State Libraries Protest Cuts
Kathy Ishizuka -- School Library Journal, 4/1/2003
The New York Library Association (NYLA) sponsored a March 18 rally on the steps of the state capitol to protest the proposal, which would pare library funding from $88.9 million to $75.6 million. Librarians are angry that library funding has remained flat since 1998, while education funding has risen 36 percent since 1995, says Susan Lehman Keitel, NYLA's executive director. "We're being asked to take a 15 percent cut, which moves us back to 1993 funding levels" in the face of increased usage and expanding technology, she says. Legislators had until April 1 to review and alter Pataki's budget proposal. As of press time, no revisions had been made.
